A novel acute necrotizing pancreatitis model induced by L-arginine in rats.

Objective: This study developed a novel protocol for creating an acute necrotizing pancreatitis model in rats using L-arginine.

Methods: Anesthetic laparotomy was performed on the upper abdomen, and the pancreatic parenchyma of Sprague-Dawley rats was injected with 1 mL of sterilized L-arginine solution at 5 different locations in the experimental group. Specifically, 2 different injection points in the head and body of the pancreas were chosen randomly, and 1 injection point in the tail of the pancreas was chosen randomly. The parenchyma of the pancreas was injected with 200 μL of an L-arginine solution at each point. The optimal dose of L-arginine per rat was 0.4 g/kg.

Results: Serum amylase activity increased significantly after targeted injection into the parenchyma of the pancreas. Pathological examination of the pancreas 24 hours after L-arginine injection revealed massive interstitial edema, apoptosis, and necrosis of acinar cells with an infiltration of neutrophils, granulocytes, and monocytes.

Conclusions: The present study developed an appropriate, workable, and reproducible rat model of acute necrotizing pancreatitis with higher survivability and success rates compared with previously published methods.